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Council Tax Rise 2008 |
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Conservatives condemn Labour and Lib Dem
pact to hike council tax
Reading, 2 March 2009:
Conservatives on Reading Borough
Council today condemned Labour and the
Liberal Democrats for imposing a
higher-than-inflation increase in
council tax on Reading residents.
Throughout the recent budget debates the
Conservatives have not waived in their
call for a freeze on council tax
increases this year. The Conservative
group believe that in these difficult
economic times, a massive hike in
taxation on our citizens is wrong. At a
time when families are tightening their
belts; pensioners who rely on the income
from their savings are suffering; and
people are worrying about their jobs,
the last thing they need is a hefty
increase in their council tax bill.
Liberal Democrats have now decided to
collude with Labour to bring this about.
As well as calling for a freeze in
council tax at its current level, the
Conservatives proposed a performance
improvement programme across the entire
Council with the objective of driving up
services and improving the way in which
the council looks after its citizens.
Councillor Andrew Cumpsty,
Conservative group leader, said, “I
can’t believe that the Lib Dems and
Labour have chosen to impose this tax
burden of our citizens. Councils across
the county, of all political
persuasions, have either frozen council
tax increases or at least strived to
keep increases below 3 percent. For
years in Reading we have been over-taxed
by the Labour-run council, which in turn
has only delivered average services. And
now the Lib Dems have supported Labour’s
increase. I’m astounded!”
Cllr Cumpsty continued, “The choice is
now clear for people in Reading - vote
Liberal Democrat and you’re going to get
Labour policies; vote Labour and it’s
going to be more of the same - higher
taxes and poorer services. It’s no
change for Reading where the Labour-run
administration has spent huge amounts of
tax payers money on local services and
that the outcomes have been generally
poor.”
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